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Football: Panthers are all in, aiming for SVC title

Southeastern’s Lane Ruby hands the ball off to Carson Stauffer during a Week 6 contest at Unioto last season. Ruby and Stauffer will both return in 2017, hoping to lead the Panthers to new heights.(Photo: Gazette file photo)Buy Photo

CHILLICOTHE - If you ask around, one football program seems to be continually brought up as the dark horse favorite to win the Scioto Valley Conference title.

In 2014, the Southeastern Panthers finished their season 0-10. The next year, they were 2-8 and last season, steady improvements were made as they finished 6-4.

There’s a trend there and it’s moving upward.

“In the past, we've always felt like we're starting at the bottom and working our way up,” Southeastern coach Evan Gallaugher said. “This year, I think our guys feel that they have something to prove on the other end now. They've been working hard to achieve that and they're pushing each other to be better.”

Leading the Panthers to the six-win season a year ago was undoubtedly running back and linebacker Carson Stauffer, who had almost 90 tackles while piling up over 1,000 all-purpose yards.

He’ll be back and he’ll be joined by both Dakota Houser and Greg Rager, two offensive weapons with two completely different styles. Houser is a more finesse back while Rager will run a linebacker over.

But they’ll all be listening to sophomore quarterback Lane Ruby’s calls in the huddle.

“Lane’s football IQ is probably his best aspect,” Stauffer said. “He’s a tough kid and he understands the game. He just has this knack for getting the job done. He understands what he can and can’t do. He’s gotten stronger and a bit bigger this year, and he was already a tremendous athlete.”

Out wide, the Panthers will rely on Houser, when he’s not in the backfield, Trey Brown, Dalton Chaffin, Andrew Lenox and Izak Diehl, on occasion. All in all, Gallaugher feels good about his skill positions.

“We feel good about (skill positions)," Gallaugher said. “But we're not quite ready to declare dominance yet. We know there's work that still needs to be done. We're not at the spot we think we should be and we've got kinks to hash out.”

Up front, Isaiah Lafontaine, Pratt Higley, Andrew Moore, Justin Bushatz and Corbin Ford will all see playing time.

Many of those same names will anchor the Panthers’ defensive line while John Winfield, Brady Moody and Brayden Thompson figure into the mix.

At the linebacker positions, Stauffer and Rager will be the ones to keep an eye out for while Corbin Mash and Jared Sulphor help out as well. In the secondary, Diehl, Chaffin, Dustin Elliott, Noah Dresbach and Mathias Sarlo are all expected to see playing time.

“They're flying around. They're getting at it,” Gallaugher said. “The thing we've been talking about is how the sword sharpens the sword. We can coach positions up all we want but these guys have to make each other better. They have to push each other to be great.”

If the Panthers do in fact win the SVC title, it would mark the first such occurrence since 2001. But that’s not the only goal this year’s team has put in place.

“Definitely our first goal is the SVC title,” Stauffer said. “But the playoffs are expected right now. It’s not something we’re shooting for. We’re expecting to get there after we win the SVC.”

The Panthers start their season with Northwest, Southeastern Local and Eastern.